Meandering ( )

I really enjoyed this, especially at this particular time (March 2022), as her comments about Russian nationalism are very apt. Wheeler is a good guide to the principal classic authors of Russia through sharing her own discovery of the writers, the country and the people she meets on her travels, which is interspersed with accounts of her learning the language and other anecdotes. The journey through Russia is thus both personal and instructive. ( )

Fascinating snapshots of Russian writers in Russia's "Golden Age of Literature", broadly the 19th century--Pushkin until the death of Tolstoy in 1910. Biographies with their personality traits--I never knew Tolstoy was such a horrible person, for one--interspersed with many photographs. The author travelled to places important in the writers' lives; it was interesting to compare then through the writers' lives and now through the author's travels. I enjoyed reading about lesser-known figures such as Fet [a poet, think of an Emily Dickinson comparison], Goncharov, known for [Oblomov], which variations on the extremely slothful character's name have entered the Russian language, and Leskov, an uneven writer, known principally for his masterwork, the novella, "Lady Macbeth of Mtensk" turned into an opera by Shostakovich. Some of her musings on the current political situation in Russia got boring pretty quickly.

Recommended. ( )

Sara Wheeler is a travel writer, and in this book she travels across Russia visiting the homelands of the great Russian writers. Along the way we discover something of the writers themselves, gather insights into their literary work and learn what it is like to be a Russian today in different parts of the country thousands of kilometres apart.

I have conflicted opinions on this book. On the positive, I learnt some more about a number of Russian writers, and I was particularly interested in reading about some writers I'd not heard of before. Her account of Ivan Goncharov's Oblamov piqued my interest, and Gogol was a new name to me. Surprisingly, one of the best parts of the book for me was when she looks at the English translator Constance Garrett, and gives some excellent examples of the differences between work by her and other early translators and those of modern successors. I will certainly be noting this when I next pick up a Russian classic - see this example between an early translation by the Maudes and a more modern translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky:

(From Tolstoy's 'The Death of Ivan Ilyich')

Maudes - At the entrance stood a carriage and two cabs. Leaning against the wall in the hall downstairs near the cloakstand was a coffin-lid covered with cloth of gold, ornamented with gold cord and tassels, that had been polished up with metal powder. Two ladies in black were taking off their fur cloaks.

Pevear and Volokhonsky - At the entrance stood a carriage and two cabs. Downstairs, in the front hall by the coatrack, leaning against the wall, was a silk-brocaded coffin-lid with tassels and freshly polished gold braid. Two ladies in black were taking off their fur coats.

I know which version I prefer.

There were, however, aspects of Wheeler's writing that jarred with me too. She's clearly extremely well read around the Russian authors, and often assumed that her readers were too. A particularly irksome habit was flitting between talking about the authors to talking about various guides on her travels or people helping her learn the language in London, and then when she'd jump back to talking about the author again she'd refer to him by his first name, or jump into talking about his friend, by which stage my head was spinning with Russian names and I couldn't remember who was who.

Wheeler has a dry humour which at times was amusing, but at other times felt a little gobby teenager-esque. I would probably summarise her view of Russia as a bit of a sh*t hole; whether that's true or not I'm not in a position to say as I've never travelled there, but often despite the country's vastness there was seemingly little to see or comment on beyond depressing ex-communist flats and cross looking people. Perhaps that is the reality of the place, but after a while from a travelogue perspective it became a little tedious at times.

Would I read this again? No. Was I glad I read it? Probably yes, for the nuggets of very interesting information, but the writing wasn't tight enough and meandered too much when she hadn't enough material on a certain place and author. I also would have got more out of it if I had already read a number of the texts she refers to, but I feel like it shouldn't have been necessary to come to this type of book with existing background knowledge.

3 stars - a bit less smart commentary and more attention on content would have improved what was an interesting premise. ( )